Tag Archives: Youth

Travelling West! (#Quatrain #GoWest)

13 Friday Aug 2021

Posted by in MISC WRITINGS, POETRY, VISUALS

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Phil Gennuso Arts

Riding down old Route 66

windows open music playing,

just keep driving

until we run out of gas !

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At one time, California was known as the Gold Coast, probably a reference to the Gold Rush days of the 19th century. When I was growing up, we often heard, half seriously, half jokingly, Go West Young Man! At that time New York was still the largest state, the largest population, the largest economy.

Route 66 was the legendary road that took you from the Midwest to Southern California. I hitchhiked the entire route with a friend of mine from Canada (our entire trip started from Montreal) and it was quite a trip! We met quite a few interesting characters, discovered a lot of historic lore, and experienced crossing a gigantic desert! (Mojave Desert) I remember the fellow who picked us up at the start of the desert had to stop his car every 100 miles or so and put water in the radiator! Which of course we helped with. And we never had more than a few hundred dollars between us at any given time, if we were lucky!

I wouldn’t change that trip for anything!

There was also a very popular TV show at the time called Route 66 which was about the travels of two young guys spending their life, traveling down Route 66, in a Corvette, kind of like hoboing around without being hoboes.

Taken altogether that is the basis and backstory for these graphic works and the poem.

Phil Gennuso Arts